


Night Lights

by angelofbenignmalevolence



Series: IR Relief 2020-2021 Ficlets [3]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, scared of the dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelofbenignmalevolence/pseuds/angelofbenignmalevolence
Summary: John’s night light goes out in the middle of the night. Sometimes a little love from Grandma is all it takes to make it better.
Series: IR Relief 2020-2021 Ficlets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759282
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Night Lights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LouTheStarSpeaker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouTheStarSpeaker/gifts).



> A brother scared of the dark. (Bonus points if you include Jeff or Grandma Tracy) submitted as a prompt by @LouTheStarSpeaker for International Rescue & Relief (https://nutty.gumnut.net/irrelief/). 
> 
> This one is a little shorter than my other pieces, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!

Grandma rolled over and looked at the clock as she heard the terrified wail of a small child. The red letters on the clock read 3:22. She held back a yawn as she threw back the sheets and moved to the door, the wail growing louder as the door opened into the hall. Jeff and Lucille were off on a well-deserved retreat together, so it was up to her to avert whatever crisis had caused the episode before it spread to the other boys. She looked up and down the hall a moment, trying to figure out which boy was having trouble tonight.

She turned to her right and moved along the hall, stopping in front of John’s door. The poor thing was barely four years old and he still had trouble sleeping through the night when his parents were gone. She gently pushed open the door and the light from the hallway trickled into the room, leaving a triangular expanse of light that illuminated John’s small form. He was tangled in his blankets and clutching his pillow to his chest as he wailed. Grandma moved into the room and gently untangled John from his rocket-ship sheets, pulling him into her lap and leaning him gently into her chest.

“There, there, now,” she said soothingly, smoothing his bright hair with her free hand in a repetitive motion she had perfected after raising first Jeff, and then assisting with her grandsons. John’s wails subsided into whimpers as the contact and security of his grandmother’s presence began to soothe the fear that had consumed him only moments ago. Grandma kept up her soft murmurings until even his whimpers were on the verge of disappearing altogether. “What’s the matter? What’s the matter with my little Johnny?” she asked. He buried his face into her chest, as if he could hide the answer that way. Grandma gently dislodged the boy from her chest, tilting his chin up to look at her. Tears had made trails all down his cheeks and she gently wiped them away. “What’s got you so upset, little man?” she asked again as he sniffled, his bright blue-green eyes looking up at her.

“It’s so dark, Grandma,” he said. “My night light’s not working anymore…” Grandma turned to look at where the nightlight had been plugged in. Sure enough, the little bulb had ceased to glow. Grandma smiled at him as the familiarity of it all came rushing back. She had gone through this with Jeff so very long ago, and even Scott and Virgil had had a few nights where the dark was too dark for them. She shifted and got to her feet, swinging John onto her hip in a practiced motion.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t fix that, huh?” She said. John leaned his head on his grandmother’s shoulder as she moved down the hallway. She kissed the top of his head as she went in search of a new bulb for the little nightlight. She opened the closet where they kept the spare lightbulbs for the house, but frowned as the search turned up empty for bulbs for the nightlight. She closed the door and rocked John gently on her hip as she thought about where else Jeff may have hidden the extra lightbulbs.

She ran a hand over John’s back. She wasn’t sure if she had yet started going senile or if it was just the fact that her brain was not made to fire on all cylinders at 3:30 in the morning, but she couldn’t seem to think of another place in the house where there might be spare night light bulbs. She had to think of something.

“What’s got you so scared of the dark, sweetheart?” Grandma cooed as her mind struggled to think of an alternative.

“There’s monsters in the closet,” he said. “Big scary things that come out of the shadows.” Grandma frowned. Where had he been getting those ideas? Sometimes, the fact that he read at a reading level nearly equivalent to the eldest of her grandchildren was a curse. She shook her head and looked at John.

“Those monsters?” She said. “You don’t have to worry about those monsters.” John sniffled and looked up at her.

“I don’t?” Grandma reached for a tissue to clean up his face.

“You sure don’t. Do you want to know why?” she asked. John nodded. Grandma began to head back down the hall, turning off the lights as she went along. She moved into his bedroom and sat down on the windowsill, settling John in her lap. “What do you see up there?” she asked, indicating the sky.

“Stars,” he said. She smiled.

“Yes. Stars. They are kind of like nature's night lights. And do you want to know something?” John nodded again. “Some of those stars are linked together in patterns called constellations.”

“Consolations?” John asked.

“Not consolations. Constellations,” she corrected gently. “And each of those constellations has a story to them.”

“They do?”

“They sure do, sweetheart. Like….that one there. You see that group of stars?” She traced out the pattern with a finger, indicating a constellation. John followed her finger.

“I think so,” he said.

“That’s Leo,” she said. “He’s a great big lion.”

“I don’t see a lion, Grandma,” he said. “I just see a bunch of stars.”

“Well, some cultures see it as a lion,” she said. “And it’s pretty close to the big dipper, which some cultures call the big bear.” John looked up at the sky again.

“Show me,” he said. Grandma smiled.

“What’s the magic word?”

“ _Please_ show me, grandma,” he said. She traced out the pattern of the big dipper. “Wow…that’s cool.”

“And you want to know a secret?” John nodded earnestly. Grandma reached over and picked up John’s teddy bear from where it lay among the tangled sheets. She showed him to John. “This little guy right here? He talks to the big guy up there.” She indicated the constellation with her eyes. John’s eyes widened.

“He does?” Grandma nodded.

“Cross my heart. This little guy keeps an eye on you while you sleep. And if any of those scary monsters would even dare come out of the closet? Your teddy bear tells the big guy up there and he comes in and scares the monsters away.” John’s eyes widened and he looked at his teddy bear as if seeing him in a whole new light. Grandma handed the bear to her grandson and stroked his hair back as he cuddled the stuffed toy close. She hummed softly as she felt him begin to relax in her arms, hoping to put him back to sleep.

It was another several minutes before she felt his breath even out and she gathered him up into her arms again. She moved to put him to bed again, tucking the covers around him and kissing his forehead goodnight. She crept from the room and shut the door quietly behind her, letting out an exhausted sigh, though she couldn’t help the smile that came to her features as she did so.

Teddy bears talking to the constellations? Not sure where she came up with that idea, but she had to admit that it was a pretty good explanation for such a late hour. She re-entered her bedroom and looked at the clock as she settled in. Almost 4 am. Now that all was right with the world again, it was time to settle back into her own sleep. She set aside her glasses and pulled the sheets up over herself once more, closing her eyes.

“Don’t let the big bear bite,” she murmured to herself as she drifted into a quiet sleep.


End file.
